Wow! This is wonderful news! Stella
<http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/> http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/ Chicago Tribune, Aug. 19, 2007 Kosovo's troubles Your Aug. 13 editorial "Liberating Kosovo" mocks international laws and encourages the violation of the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. This has nothing to do with Russia; it's about stealing land, redrawing the map of the Balkans for the fifth time in 10 years and absconding with the single largest asset of the Serbs-the Trepca Mines in northern Kosovo, estimated to be worth more than $3 trillion, and one of the largest coal reserves in Europe that can last 500 years. Your editorial treats this asset like the elephant in the room, hoping no one will notice this political robbery. Serbs were the majority (80 percent) in Kosovo for a thousand years and built more than 1,500 churches and monasteries in an area barely the size of Rhode Island. In my lifetime, Serbs have become a minority, starting with the Holocaust under Benito Mussolini when the liquidation of Serbs reduced their numbers to 45 percent. After the war, Josip Broz Tito forbade the 155,000 ethnically cleansed Serbs from returning to Kosovo, giving their land to Albanian Nazis and further reducing Serbs to 39 percent. When Tito granted Albanian "autonomy" in 1974, the Serbian language was banned and more than 120,000 Serbs were cleansed as Serbian farms were burned and Serbian girls and nuns were raped, reducing the Serbs to 29 percent. Today Serbs are less than 8 percent. If the 350,000 recently cleansed Serbs and the 80,000 non-Albanian minorities were allowed to return to Kosovo and the 40 percent undocumented Albanians were forced to leave, there would not be this fictitious "90 percent Albanian" population to seek independence. Are our politicians really this stupid? Your editorial is shameful, especially your omission that during this war, 90,000 Albanians fled to Belgrade-into the arms of their Serb enemies. Giving this illusion that undocumented aliens have more rights than citizens provides a clear picture of what is in store for California as Mexicans become a majority. But Kosovo is not about population count, it is about the "jihad" taking place in the Balkans. You fail to mention the 151 ancient Serbian churches that have been destroyed in the past five years, right under the noses of 17,000 NATO troops, or the dozens of new Islamic mosques that have been built. William Dorich Los Angeles <http://www.chicagotribune.com/images/clear.gif> | <http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/08/kosovos-tr ouble.html> Permalink | <http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/08/kosovos-tr ouble.html#comments> Comments (0) _____ Chicago Tribune, Aug. 19, 2007 Worrisome conflict continues in Kosovo This is in response to "Liberating Kosovo" (Editorial, Aug. 13). Whoever penned your editorial erred right from the opening salvo. If "liberating" Kosovo is the name of the game, then it should be known that Kosovo is now almost completely "liberated" of all but its Albanian population. Another term for the Kosovo style of liberation is "ethnic cleansing." And, I must say it's a very interesting perception of ethnic cleansing, where those who are now "making up 90 percent of its 2 million people" are somehow the designated victims and the ones being cleansed from Kosovo. Apparently your editors don't appear to be aware that of that 90 percent, approximately 40 percent are illegal aliens who over the past few decades have crossed into Serbia via its very porous border with Albania. This is not unlike the situation in the U.S. and its porous border with Mexico. So your editorial recommends that "the Serbs would be compensated for giving away 15 percent of their territory." Interesting how very simple it is to give away someone else's territory. Perhaps one day that just might be the scenario for one of the states bordering Mexico. Then we'll see what the U.S. will be willing to give up. The editorial recommends sending "a long-overdue signal to Russia that its muscular tactics won't increase its influence in European affairs." On the contrary, it's the U.S. that has been flexing its muscles all over the planet. Vis-a-vis Kosovo this involves a flagrant disregard of international law, the United Nations Charter, Resolution 1244 and the Helsinki Final Act, in order to dictate to a smaller nation that it must relinquish a portion of its territory. This would unleash upon Europe an intolerant and ethnically cleansed Islamic state. That is what should be most worrisome. Unfortunately it does not appear to be so for the editors of your newspaper. Liz Milanovich Edmonton, Alberta <http://www.chicagotribune.com/images/clear.gif> | <http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/08/worrisome- confl.html> Permalink | <http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/08/worrisome- confl.html#comments> Comments (0) _____ Chicago Tribune, Aug. 18, 2007 Check Kosovo history, reassess opinion The opinion expressed by the Tribune that the Serbian province of Kosovo should be independent is exactly 180 degrees out of balance ("Liberating Kosovo," Editorial, Aug. 13). Kosovo represents 15 percent of the territory of Serbia. How would you feel if 50 years from now, due to the illegal influx of immigrants from other countries, China demands and recognizes eight states as an independent nation because the ethnic population has shifted dramatically? Check the history of the ethnic makeup in Kosovo post-WW2. Read the CIA "Family Jewels" paper on what was then Yugoslavia. Remember that we have a bad historical point of reference in the recognition of Panama in 1904 simply because we wanted to build the Panama Canal. Reconsider your published opinion once you have gained sufficient knowledge of the subject of national sovereignty. The U.S. should [reconsider] and must not repeat the mistakes of history with a unilateral declaration recognizing the ethnic Albanian populace in Kosovo as the rightful owners. Oh yes, don't forget their observance of the rule of law; 400,000 weapons seem to point in a different direction. James Shaw Fullerton, Calif. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/images/clear.gif> | <http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/08/check-koso vo-hi.html> Permalink | <http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_opinion_letters/2007/08/check-koso vo-hi.html#comments> Comments (0)
